4 Bold Beauty Looks I Didn’t Expect To Love

While I love a big, bad, bold look as much as the next gal, my go-to face is pretty low-key. Most days, you’ll find me slothing around in nothing more than a CC cream (or foundation, depending how my skin’s doing), brows filled in, a bit of blush, and a sheer lip balm. It’s dependable and easy, and—let’s admit it—pretty boring.

Lately, I’ve been daring myself to step out of my (relatively large) comfort zone and try new things. Here are a couple of looks and trends I tried, and what I learned in the process:

Hot HOT Pink Lips

If I wear lipstick, it’s usually a shade of red. I love pinks, but I’ve always avoided the super saturated world of hot, nearly neon pinks. I assumed that with my warm coloring and already full lips, crazy pink would be overkill on me.

It turns out, though, that I sort of love it.

While this probably won’t become my new go-to lip look, I really dig the way the pink pops against my mostly bare face and an all-black ensemble.

Under-eye Color

I live and die for eyeliner, but I generally avoid going crazy on my lower lash line. I always worry that any color there will just emphasize my under-eye bags, but now that both Hannah and I have decided that under-eye bags are cool and trendy, I’ve thrown all caution to the wind.

A bold color under the eye is a badass alternative to traditional liner or shadow. I like to use a shadow and an angled brush rather than liner for a softer, more-blendable result that still packs a punch.

Heavily Filled-In Brows

My daily brow routine is simple: just a few swipes of MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Brow Set and I’m out the door. Sharply lined or angled brows work for some people, but not me. I also don’t usually fill my brows in very heavy because it doesn’t look like my real brows.

But I decided to really go for it with a brow pencil, and I don’t hate it, y’all.

I’m never going to have huge naturally bushy brows, but it is fun to play pretend every now and then.

Red Eye Shadow

With my orangey undertones and consistently red, itchy eyes (I’m allergic to everything, hi!), I’ve shied away from red shadows in the past. But those days are gone. I’ve grown to love the way a sheer swipe of red across my eyelids looks. It’s sort of romantic and I like how it looks with my brown eyes.

I’m glad I’ve found some fun, bold new looks to play with and I’m looking forward to experimenting even more in the new year. (Heh, heh.) Now you tell me:

What’s a look you used to think you couldn’t pull off but now love dearly?